A 72-year-old woman has been convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for stealing more than half a million dollars from the church where she was employed.
According to legal documents, Marie Carson illegally transferred the funds from the business accounts of a local Indianapolis Catholic church to her personal bank accounts.
When authorities were contacted to investigate, the U.S. Department of Justice found that she began scamming the church as early as 2004.
“For more than thirteen years, this defendant abused her position of trust to embezzle money from parishioners intended for a church and school,” Zachary A. Myers, United States attorney for the southern district of Indiana said in a statement. “Her greed and desire for lavish vacations outweighed her interest in following the dictates of our criminal laws and the teachings of her church, ‘thou shalt not steal.’ The sentence imposed today sends a clear message to those who might seek to steal, defraud, and embezzle: we will find you, you will be prosecuted, and you will be held accountable.”
Carson would eventually admit to the scheme and pleaded guilty to wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Chief Tanya Walton Pratt sentenced her to prison and ordered the felon to be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for two years following her release from federal prison. She has also been ordered to pay back the amount she stole in restitution.
According to the DOJ, the church employed Carson as a business manager who was responsible for processing checks from the congregation. She conducted most financial transactions at the church and managed most of its finances.
“This scheme was fueled by pure greed. For more than a decade, the defendant abused the trust of the church and its parishioners to line her own pocket,” said FBI Indianapolis special agent in Charge Herbert J. Stapleton. “While she may have benefited in the short term, in the end this perpetrator’s deception landed her behind bars. The FBI and our partners will continue to identify and investigate those who engage in these types of illegal schemes and hold them accountable.”
